Zimri, Omri & Tibni

Introduction

I began to name this the ‘Bible Person Study’, but chose to go with the ‘Bible Character Study’. I hesitated to name it that, as I don’t want to diminish the fact that these are real people we’ll be examining. But the reason that it’s named the Bible Character Study is because we’ll be focusing on the person’s character throughout. But don’t forget that these were real people, with real lives that made real choices that had real consequences.

I. Their Nature

((What is their History / Background?)

The 5th & 6th Kings of Israel

Reigned a Combined 12 years and 7 days (1Ki. 16:15; 23)

Zimri 7 days

Omri reigned for 12 years whole Tibni challenged for 4 years

Zimri ascended on the 27th year of Asa (1Ki. 16:10), reigned 7 days

Omri’s exclusive reign began in the 31st year of Asa (1Ki. 16:23), and reigned a total of 12 years.

In the 38th year of Asa, Ahab ascended (1Ki. 16:29)

Zimri & Omri were both Officers under Elah

Zimri was captain over half the chariots in the nation - yet he was in the capital city of Tirzah at the time of the assassination.

Omri was ‘captain of the host’ - that means he was 2nd in command only to the king - he was in Gibbethon over in Philistine land making war against them.

Tibni was the son of Ginath, apparently a popular man, but nothing more known of him.

Tibni Challenged the throne for 4 years

As we see, Tibni & Omri both had supporters, but only one would reign.

The Bible doesn’t give any accounts as to how Tibni died, but it wasn’t likely a natural death.

II. Their Notoriety

(What they are known for?)

Zimri:

Conspiracy; Murder; Mass-murder; Arson; Suicide

All in 7 days

It’s amazing the amount of wickedness that a man could commit in such a short period of time.

Tibni:

Leading a Divided Israel

Tibni is more of a footnote in the history books as he ascended from nowhere, and descended into obscurity.

But for a short 4 years, he led a large enough group of Israelites to assume the place of co-king.

Omri:

Was Captain of the Host

This was a man of prestige, who garnered the respect and honour of others. He was obviously a man of war and showed himself valiant.

He was a man of duty, as he was doing his job while Zimri was conspiring.

Besieged Zimri after the Coup

After hearing of the treachery of Zimri, Omri would leave Gibbethon & go back to the Capital city to dethrone the self-appointed Zimri.

He would ultimately succeed when Zimri would realize the ‘jig is up’ and burn down the palace with himself in it.

Building a new Capital City (Samaria) for Israel

Omri would then buy a plot of land and build what would be the new capital city for the Nation of Israel that would last until the Babylonians would conquer them.

Being More Wicked than those Before (1Ki. 16:25)

When you consider who it was that was before:

Jeroboam who introduced idolatry to the nation & erected altars

Nadab his son - who was no better

Baasha who conspired against & killed him & all his family

Elah, his drunken lazy son

Zimri who conspired against & killed him & all his family

And it says that Omri was worse that all of them!

That’s pretty bad if you ask me.

III. What Makes them Noteworthy

(What Lessons we can Learn from them?)

Zimri:

The Pleasure of Sin is for But a Season

As I consider Zimri, I can think of few better illustrations of the pleasure of sin for a season.

(Ill.) I try to put my head inside of Zimri. He’s there in Tirzah beholding the king getting drunk and acting a fool. Zimri is probably thinking “How is it that this lazy fool is king? He’s only king because of his daddy!… Anybody could be a better king that him… I would be a better king than him!… I could kill him, and take the throne myself! Surely, if I show such strength against a king to not only kill him, I would need to kill his family - the people would see my strength! They would fear and fall before my rule, and I’ll show them! I will be king! So he sets the plan in motion. He kills Zimri - there wasn’t anything to it after all, he was drunk. Then he goes about killing his entire family. The whole time he’s thinking ‘it’s working out just like I planned. I’m going to be king’. And for a while he was… for 1 week. Do you know what happened after a week? He starts hearing the commotion of an army approaching. His loyalists begin to flee (ex. Operation Valkyrie) and he’s left with kill himself or face the consequences of his actions

Church, sin has it’s pleasure for a moment - but there’s always a reckoning!

Your Sin will Surely Find you Out

Numbers 32:23 “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.”

When we choose to sin, we must make that decision with the understanding that it will NOT be kept secret. We must understand that our sin will inevitably be brought forth as the noon-day. If we approach sin this way, it will be a deterrent to sin!

It’s the same principle as ‘the Fear of the LORD’ - if we have a fear of the LORD, it will encourage us to live Holy & Righteously!

Your Sin will Find you Out

Idleness Leads to Sin

Where was Zimri? In Tirzah. Where was the battle? In Gibbethon. What was Zimri’s occupation? Captain of half of the chariots.

There’s that saying ‘Idle hands are the devil’s workshop’. Had Zimri been out in the battle, he wouldn’t have conspired against Elah. We find this same principle play out in the story of David & Bathsheba.

This is why it’s so important to be busy about the work of the LORD - as it’s when we’re idle when the flesh takes control.

Idleness leads to sin

Tibni:

It matters not Who Follows You, but Who you Follow (1Ki. 16:21)

Tibni had people who were willing to follow him. That’s not necessarily a bad thing - depending on where you’re leading them.

But the most important thing for us to focus on is not who is following us, but who we’re following - for a few reasons:

If we’re concerned about who’s following us, we’re looking the wrong direction

If we’re concerned about only following God, then it doesn’t matter if everyone or anyone is following us.

Sometimes we’ll be able to lead others unto the LORD

Other times, we may be like Stephen - alone, yet not alone - but right regardless!

It matters not who follows you, but who you follow - Tibni had a lot of people following him, but it didn’t matter at all in the long run.

You can be Close to Royalty, and Still Miss Out (1Ki. 16:22)

Tibni was so close to being king - but never truly held the title. He was close, but it wasn’t to be.

Tibni reminded me of a man by the name of Agrippa: Acts 26:28 “Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.”

I wonder how many eyes will be lifted up in Hell that were ‘almost persuaded’? But then whatever might have gotten in the way. The lust of the flesh, the fear of man… but make no mistake - almost in Heaven is fully in Hell.

You can be close to Royalty and still miss out

Omri:

Gaining an Earthly Throne doesn’t Equate to a Successful Life (1Ki. 16:23)

I read in my research that while the Bible speaks little about Omri, historical record speaks much about him and how the Syrians called the land ‘The land of Omri’.

Omri did lead an army, was the king - yet his life in totality was an utter, miserable failure.

He failed his people

He failed his family

He failed the God of Heaven - to whom he’d give answer

So while on the outside it seemed as though Omri had it going on, he failed in life.

There are so many people who fit this description. (Ill.) My mind goes to Steve Jobs. I use him because he’s known as a brilliant Entrepreneur, inventor of things that are used by billions of people and a contemporary. However, he was also known as a believer in Zen Buddhism - which means, for all the success Steve Jobs had on earth, he’s just one of a multitude of people on the same plain with the same fortune - all destitute crying out for a drop of water.

Jesus said: Matthew 16:26 “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Outside of Christ, there is no success to be had

Gaining an earthly throne doesn’t equate to a succesful life

Succeeding Generations Naturally Decline Spiritually

It’s bore out in Scripture many times, but here we see: 1 Kings 16:25 “But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him.” then of his son: 1 Kings 16:30 “And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.”

Whatever Spiritual level you are at, know that odds are your children’s will be less.

This is important to know because the more we’re lax in our walk, expect our children to be worse.

The moral of the story is that if we want our children to be Spiritually Strong, WE must be Spiritually strong.

Though Each has Opportunity to Set the Standard

What I have just told you is the rule. However, there are exceptions to it. IT’S POSSIBLE that your children can be Spiritually strong even if you’re weak, but we can’t count on that - it’s the exception. But each has their opportunity to set the standard.

(Ill.) I am blessed in the sense that I am in essence a 1st-generation Christian. It wasn’t passed down to me, but thank God I had the opportunity to pass it up to my parents! So we have set a new standard for our family - we didn’t have to do as what was done. So it’s up to us to set a high standard - one that I pray my children will supersede, but if not, prayerfully then will not decline far.

Succeeding generations naturally decline Spiritually, but each has opportunity to set the standard

It’s Tragic to Not Learn from the Past (1Ki. 16:26)

Omri - as others before him - had opportunity to learn from the past and do things differently - but instead, he repeated the same mistakes as his predecessors.

Proverbs 26:11 “As a dog returneth to his vomit, So a fool returneth to his folly.”

I see so many people who absolutely refuse to learn from both their mistakes, and the mistakes of others.

(Ill.) I remember telling my children mistakes that I’ve made, in hopes that they would learn from it and do things differently. Sometimes, it’s worked. Other times, not so much.

But church it’s tragic not to learn from the past - every moment: The victories and the failures we should treat them all as teaching moments.

Conclusion